I see this argument a LOT. Even when people do not realize this is actually what they are arguing about or the stances they are taking. I just don't see how so many people are polarized on concepts that allow a whole lot of room in-between.

I prefer to think of myself as middle of the line on this, but I perhaps skew authoritarian as I attribute many of the problems I see in contemporary society to an excess of libertarian policy. America was founded on principles of Liberty and Justice for all, and you can't have one without the other, because liberty without justice is worthless and vice versa. An excess of liberty is in fact detrimental to true freedom, in the same way that anarchy is. If there are no rules to the game certain powerful players are going to rig it in their favor before long, so in trying to shy away from a big centralized authority you end up with a bunch of smaller ones. That's why I think people today put too much faith in the free market. It has it's virtues but we tend to trumpet them endlessly while ignoring it's faults. We should not abandon free market principles, but they do need to be more tightly regulated.